


and the dark ate the light (ARCHIVE)

by Relvich



Category: Sanders Sides, Thomas Sanders
Genre: Anxiety, Blood, Intrusive Thoughts, M/M, Nightmares, Violent Thoughts, dark characters, i in no way condone the shit they do in this, just as a disclaimer, they're really not, they're... not the greatest of people in this guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2018-12-02 19:04:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11515527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Relvich/pseuds/Relvich
Summary: (...and their world was better for it.)"Look, sometimes... sometimes beauty doesn’t come in pastels and pretty fairy tales. Sometimes it comes from the black rifts of chaos and despair.""...And we like it better that way."//REWRITE AVAILABLE NOW! 'and the dark ate the light (requiem)' is now on my profile!





	1. Allure.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Candycoloredwolf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Candycoloredwolf/gifts).



He didn’t… there were parts of himself he didn’t speak of.

He was a Prince. He was royalty, so why…

Why?

But no matter how much he hid that part of himself… no matter how much he shoved it to the shadowed depths of his mind…

It festered.

And eventually, like all truths… it came to light.

But… not for awhile yet.

 *

It started innocently enough. He figured he’d try to cook a bit more, he knew it’d please Morality, and honestly, he really _did_ need to learn these things.

…He was chopping vegetables for a stew.

_Come on, Thomas. Take the knife to your arm. Carve beautiful art in those tantalizing shades of red. It couldn’t hurt that much…_

_And the image— pretty swirls and curls and vines looping around his arm-_

“Fuck... Virgil, _no!”_ He shook his head like a dog clearing water from its fur.

If only this was so easy as that.

It’d— it’d been awhile since he’d had an intrusive thought like that. He’d hoped it’d be longer, but he supposed…

You couldn’t bottle things like that forever. Anx, try as he might… he had darkness in him. Always had.

“Look, Virg, I know you’ve been trying to ease up on me. I know, and I appreciate it. But, a little warning next time?”

And for Thomas, that was the end of it. He went back to making his meal, and ended up having a glorious night- staying in, having a couple friends over, watching cartoons until the early hours…

Anxiety? Not so much…

_He knelt on the floor in his room, pulling at the strands of his hair like he could uproot his thoughts through his follicles. He sobbed openly._

“Fuck, no no no, I didn’t— I didn’t mean it!” he wailed. “No, nonono _no—”_

“I just couldn’t— I _couldn’t—”_

_couldn't hold it in anymore—_

He gasped, choking on a sob, the tears dripping to the floor in a pitiful attempt at the phrase _cry me a river._

_He could never shed enough saltwater for— for this, to make up for the faux blood he’d shown Thomas, he couldn’t he couldn’t he  c o u l d n ’ t –_

“Anxiety— oh my god, Anxiety!”

And the worst part? Prince… Prince had seen it all. He’d been with Thomas when it’d happened, he’d— he’d been singing and sitting on the counter, swinging his feet and being his happy, righteous self— _he_ could help Thomas, at least; _he_ could be a proper Side and do his job— _protect—_

“Anxiety, Anxiety, hey, hey… it’s okay, it’s alright…”

_...I wonder if— I wonder if he consoles all the monsters he fights before he kills them…_

“N-no it’s not! I— I— I’m a mon- I’m a m- _monster,_ disgusting, a _freak, what have I done—”_

Why couldn’t he? Why couldn’t he just be light through and through like the others? Why couldn’t he be nice, why couldn’t he be…

Not… him?

Why?

“Hey, no no no, shh, it’s okay I promise you.” he fell to his knees next to the shaking boy. “Is it… can I… can I touch you?”

Ever since he’d been more accepted into the group, Anxiety had given them little tips on how to… _handle him_ when and if things like this happened.

He’d never been more glad for it.

“I— I— y-yes—” and not a second before did Roman envelope him in a hug, but it took him no longer than seconds after the word left his lips. He curled around the darker trait, as if to protect him— from what he didn’t know. All he knew was—

This— this dark gem needed to be protected. He needed to be able to be himself— he needed to be _free._

_He needed to be who he was, even if Roman couldn’t._

“Shh, Anx, it’s okay…”

“‘S not… _not_ , I’m _d-disgusting…”_

“No… no, Anxiety. Virgil, no you aren’t. You… you can’t help who you are. You didn’t… you didn’t mean it, I know you didn’t…” he cradles Anxiety’s head with his hands, running fingers through soft hair as he buried his face in his shoulder.

_“You’re beautiful.”_

_and so are your creations. i promise. red is my favorite color._

And he— he fell harder for the allure of the dark, that night. He fell harder for Virgil, too.

And the darkness within him began to grow.

*

...But as his dark was hidden inside, Virgil’s was breaking free…

But he’d known all along. That something horrible was within him.

And maybe… no, not maybe. That’s why he tried to pull away from the group… he’d wanted, one last time, to protect them.

But they’d pulled him in, lured him into believing he could be a good guy through and through—

_and now it ate at him._


	2. Glass.

“...Why are you still here, Roman?” he sighed, red eyes hidden by the front of the prince’s tunic. The tears had long since stopped. 

He hadn’t let go. Neither of them had.

“Because I want to be, Virgil.” he had his fingers tangled in the… ‘darker’ trait’s hair, and he breathed deeply, as if he relied upon Anxiety for the very air he needed.

“I... I don’t... believe you.”

And with those four words, it seemed as though his heart dropped all the way to the depths of hell.

He didn’t let it show.

“I know, and I know you probably won’t for a very long time, and that’s okay,” he said, holding him close before letting go, looking into his puffy eyes. “Because I’m not gonna leave you to deal with this alone anymore.”

A long silence.

“...Why?”

Roman smiled gently, and to Virgil, it almost felt like warm sunshine cascading around him.

“I already told you.”

*

...It happens again, months later. This time, in the form of a nightmare. While Thomas is living in a snapshot of all of his best friends and relatives forgetting who he even is, Anxiety is paralyzed, unable to look away from one of his worst thoughts, one of the ones he could hardly bear to  _ acknowledge _ . He can stop it, he knows that, but first he has to calm down calm _ down calm  d o w n  _ —  _  but it’s not in his nature to calm down, help help  h e l p  _ —

Roman, the Prince of Creativity, woke as he felt some of _his_ creative power being drawn into something… _deliciously_ dark. He sleepily gets up, wandering to the pull of his magic— but then he feels it, the absolute terror coming from Anx, and he is immediately awake and sprinting to his goal, his dark gem, his—

Oh god, his  _ inspiration.  _ Shit. 

“Hey, hey Virgil? I’m coming in, okay?”

No response.

He opened the door to reveal a shaking Virg, and he winced. He — this was  _ breaking his heart _ _ — _

“Virg, honey, I need you to listen to me for a bit, okay?” he was breathing too fast, was he even getting any oxygen at all? “I need you to breathe and I need you to listen to me, can you do that for me?” 

A barely noticeable nod, but it was there. He let a breath escape him. 

“Okay. I’m right here.” he studied the insides of Anx’s usually dark but cozy room, and what he sees are flashes of a nightmare that would’ve left even  _ him  _ in shambles, had it been directed at his way. 

“Oh, Virgil. I am right here. No one’s forgotten you  _ or _ Thomas. I’m right here, which means I remember you. I could never ever forget.”

Virge nodded, his eyes showing the strength of steel — an edge of panic but also the determination to calm himself.  _ He could do this, he could do this. And Roman was right there. _

_ It was always said that the negative memories stayed the longest, anyway _ —

“Y-y-y— _shit_ — you’re not... leaving?” His voice turned up a bit at the end, shaking and uncertain, and it broke the tattered remains of Roman’s heart. 

“Never.”

“...I don’t— I can’t— _believe_ _—_ _”_

“I know, I know, shh, it’s okay. Right now I only want you to believe in  _ you.” _

“...How?”

Roman took a deep breath and gathered the glass dust remains of his heart.

“Stick around with me for a while and maybe I can help show you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, my chapters are usually double this, but i've been having such a block recently that i needed to get something out, even if it was much, much too short. i hope you enjoy it anyway!

**Author's Note:**

> oh boy. welcome to the rabbit hole, kiddos. the plot's a bit slow burn, so be warned. their descent will be prolonged and i'm living for this  
> hope you enjoy,  
> rel out


End file.
